The thunder of two shots reverberated off the walls, and shattered glass sprayed through the room. Dee heard herself screaming as she covered her head and felt stinging prickles dancing down her arms. As the rain of shards ended, she pushed herself off the floor, legs shaking so hard she could barely stand. Outside the window, Fletcher stood, feet braced apart, his automatic still gripped and aimed.
Dee swung around. Jenna had crumpled against the far wall, her eyes now lifeless. Tyler slumped against the front door, a patch of red growing steadily on his chest. As she clambered toward him, Dee screamed again, a sound that echoed through her mind, heart and soul.
EIGHTEEN
“You should get some rest.” Maggie’s warm hand gently squeezed Dee’s shoulder. “Let me take you back to the hotel. Fletcher is driving the cruiser back to New Hampshire, so you could have the room. I’ll watch here.”
Dee lifted her head off the edge of Tyler’s hospital bed, where she had drifted off a few moments before. “No, thanks. I want to be here when he wakes up.”
“The docs say that could be a while.”
Dee took a deep, refreshing breath, and rolled her shoulders to work out the kinks. “I know.”
“But you don’t care.” Maggie’s smile reflected her understanding.
“Would you, if it were Fletcher?”
“I’d be glued to the chair, just like you are.”
“Exactly.”
“But there’s someone out in the hall who wants to see you.” Maggie tugged on Dee’s left hand. “They drove down. And I think you’ll want to see them before they go back.”
Puzzled, Dee followed her friend into the hall, where Jack, Nancy and Carly Bradford waited, broad smiles on their welcoming faces.
Dee’s gleeful “Oh, my!” was met by a rush of small arms and legs as Carly leaped toward her with a joyful bounce. Dee knelt to grab her, and was enmeshed in a hug filled with joy and love. She kissed the top of Carly’s head, relishing the sweet scent of children’s shampoo blended with Carly’s own aroma.
“We came to say thank you.” Nancy’s light words mirrored the rested, loving look on her face. “Thank you for bringing Carly back to us.”
“We also came to see how Tyler is doing,” Jack finished, concern on his face. “I wish I could have done the surgery, but the staff here tells me he came through with flying colors.”
Dee stood, still gripping Carly’s hand, and nodded. “They thought the bullet was close to his heart at first, but it turned out to be not as risky a surgery. He’ll have a few weeks of recovery, but they say he’s going to be okay.”
Carly pulled enthusiastically on her hand. “See, I told you God would take care of us.”
Dee gazed down into the bright, dark eyes that sparkled with hope and faith. “You did, indeed.” She raised her head again, looking at Nancy and Jack. “Your daughter has an incredible faith. Unshakable.”
Jack’s grin widened. “I hope it helped. We raised her to believe, but her lack of doubt has surprised even us. For her, God simply never fails.”
Carly bounced up on her tiptoes. “Well, He doesn’t. My Sunday school teacher told me that we may not always like what He does or the answers He gives, but He’s always there, and He always answers.”
“And a little child shall lead us,” murmured Maggie.
Dee took a deep breath, wishing for a moment that she had the faith of this child. She felt her heart turning toward God again, but she didn’t know if she could ever have the belief in Him this glorious child did. Maybe, someday.
She shook Jack’s hand with her free one. “Thank you for stopping by and checking on us.” She reached and gave Nancy a quick hug. “I’ll keep you posted on Tyler’s condition.”
“Can I pray for him?” Carly looked from her mother, to her father, to Dee.
Nancy shook her head. “I think you’re too young to go in. We can pray for him at home.”
Carly sighed and fell silent, but continued to look at both parents with pleading eyes.
Let her pray.
Dee frowned. Where had that thought come from? She looked at Maggie, who merely shrugged. She glanced at the nurses station, but they were all engrossed in their own business.
We should all pray.
Dee squeezed her eyes shut a moment, then looked at Nancy and Jack. “Actually,” she began slowly, “if you don’t mind…”
Tyler felt the pain first, the solid ache that seemed to inhabit every muscle of his body and the sharper, driving pain in his chest. Then came the awareness of voices and a faint light. Someone was talking. No…praying. A young voice.
Consciousness eased into his mind like a thick curtain being drawn back to reveal actors on a stage. Soft, warm hands gripped his own, and he could smell a light perfume above the odors of medicine and disinfectant. A scent he recognized.
Dee’s perfume.
But the voice belonged to a child. “…Lord, please heal Mr. Madison and lift him up in Your love.”
After a brief pause, the prayer continued, this time in a baritone that Tyler gradually realized belonged to Jack Bradford.
“Father God, this man has been faithful to You and Your Son with his life, his heart, and his mind. We ask You now to place Your healing hands on his body, heal him from these physical wounds. We know You can touch anyone with Your love.”
Another silence passed, then came the voice Tyler had grown to know so well. To love.
“Lord, I know I walked away from You, but this man, this family, have shown me how great is Your love, Your care for all of us, even in the harshest of times. I hope You will forgive me, and open Your heart to this man—” Her voice faltered and she inhaled deeply “—this man I’ve come to love so much, and that You will heal him. All this we ask in Your Son’s name. Amen.”
A soft chorus of Amens followed, then the room fell silent.
Tyler swallowed, testing his throat. Sore, but maybe the words could be understood. He closed his fingers around those hands pressing against his palms and opened his eyes, squinting against the light. “You love me?” His voice was lower and raspier than he’d expected.
One hand pulled away as Carly Bradford squealed and launched herself at her dad. “I told you! See!”
Jack grabbed Carly, making low shushing noises, even as he enveloped her in a hug. She buried her face in his neck to give him a wet kiss, then twisted in his arms to look at Tyler.
Tyler tried to focus on Dee, who stood at his side, her mouth hanging partially open. Maybe she hadn’t heard him…“Did you say you loved me?” he repeated.
She closed her mouth, blinking hard against a growing brightness in her eyes. She nodded, and her grip on his hand tightened almost to the point of pain.
He cleared his throat and took a deeper breath, an action that resulted in an even sharper pain in his chest. He groaned, but he had to get this out. He cleared his throat and tried again. “So you’d marry me?”
He heard gasps from behind her, and Dee lost the battle with the tears. They continued to stream down her cheeks, even though she tried to wipe them away. “Yes, I most definitely will marry you, Tyler Madison.”
“Good.” He closed his eyes again. “Now I have a reason to get well. I have to teach my dog to like you.”
Dee giggled, then she leaned over and placed a soft kiss on his lips.
“Do that again,” he whispered. And she did.
As Tyler drifted back to sleep, he sent his own prayer toward heaven. Lord, thank You, for my life, for Carly’s return, and for opening Dee’s heart to Yours again. Your heart and mine. And with that, Tyler slept with a renewed sense of purpose, peace and love.
EPILOGUE
Maggie sat on the edge of Dee’s bed, watching as the hair stylist pinned the last of the baby’s breath into the ringlets of Dee’s hair. Satin ribbons streamed down through the curls, adding light and color to her appearance.
David, dressed in a miniature tuxedo and sitting on Maggie’s lap, cooed as Dee handed
him the leftover ribbons to play with. “You look gorgeous,” Maggie whispered.
They were in Dee’s retreat cabin, which was the only place they had found any privacy. The lodge house overflowed with the entire town of Mercer, as guests spilled out over the lawn and mingled in groups around the food. Dee’s parents had arrived the day before from Tennessee, along with several of her cousins and friends, and they were the life of the party with their deep Southern accents and stories about Dee as a teenager.
Dee stood, and the hair stylist gave her hair one last fluff before gathering her tools into her bag and leaving. Dee then reached for one of Maggie’s hands. “Thank you for this. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Me? I think Fletcher has found a new gift for event planning. You’d think he was holding this for his own daughter!”
Dee grinned. “I can’t remember ever being this happy. Help me into the dress.”
“You know it!” Maggie sat David in the middle of the bed, then helped Dee pull the long white gown from her closet. As the cloth fell free of the hanger, it brushed the emerald green dress. Mickey’s dress. Dee paused, looking it over carefully for a moment.
“Maggie?”
“Yes?”
Dee pulled the green dress from her closet and handed it to Maggie. “I think this would look great on you.”
Tyler felt like a stuffed sausage, and he tugged at the tight collar of his dress blues again. “Whose idea was an outdoor wedding in August?” he muttered.
Standing beside him, Fletcher chuckled. “Yours. You couldn’t wait for fall, and our front lawn is the only place in Mercer big enough for all these people. You think a tuxedo is any cooler?”
Tyler looked out over the long sloping lawn that had been transformed into an alfresco chapel, complete with long sheets of white veil gracefully dancing in the trees and towers of white roses. A long white cloth ran along the ground from the front door of the lodge house to where he stood with Fletcher and the preacher. “I changed my mind. I want to honeymoon in Alaska.”
“And miss introducing Miss Tennessee to Boston?”
“Well, there is—” He froze as the front door opened, and Carly and Maggie emerged. A sudden hush settled over the lawn as a guitarist began to play and sing the processional that Dee had insisted on using, an ancient folk song about timelessness of eternal love.
Carly proceeded them, tossing rose petals wildly in every direction. Maggie followed slowly, a wide, unstoppable grin on her face.
Finally, Dee’s father stepped out. An elegant Southern gentleman in his late sixties, Mr. Mathis was the picture of grace as he held out his arm, and Dee stepped out to take it. Framed in white—gown, ribbons, and flowers—she shone in the bright sunlight with a golden radiance.
“Wow,” Fletcher whispered.
Tyler remained silent, suddenly chilled and shaking. “I don’t deserve her.”
“Shut up,” Fletcher said. “God sent her. Remember? Carly said so.”
Tyler wasn’t about to argue. As they had all discovered, the faith of Carly Bradford never failed.
Dear Reader,
Have you ever had something happen that made you feel overwhelmed and, quite possibly, all alone? Most of us have. Trials are a part of life, and nowhere in Scripture does God promise us a life of ease and comfort.
Instead, he promises that He’ll never leave us. That He’ll always help us, including putting folks in our lives who will give us the strength to climb out of the ditch. As David writes in Psalm 34:19, “Hard times may well be the plight of the righteous—they may often seem overwhelmed—but the Eternal One rescues them from them all.”
When The Taking of Carly Bradford opens, Dee has experienced the most devastating loss any mother can. She’s crushed mentally and spiritually. But God does not leave her. He sends people to help her, and, in the end, it is Dee who becomes the helper. She desperately wants to prevent another mother from going through what she has.
When God rescues us, it should never end there. As we survive and thrive, it is our turn, our time to become the rescuer that He sends forth to His children. After all, we may be the first sign of Him that some folks see.
I hope He blesses you all.
All my best,
Ramona
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
At the beginning of the book, what steps has Dee taken in her efforts to recover from a crushing loss?
How has she been helped in her efforts? Are there other steps you think she could have taken?
God often puts people in our lives to help us through trials. What roles have Maggie and Fletcher played in Dee’s recovery?
How do you think Dee’s friendship with Tyler has helped her find her way again?
Do you have people in your life who have helped you through rough times? How do you think they help you find God’s plan for your life?
As Dee works with Tyler, she becomes determined to help the Bradfords. How have your own problems helped you see the trials others are experiencing?
In what way did the attacks on Dee open her mind up to God?
How did Tyler “plant seeds” so that Dee began to change her thoughts about God?
Have you had someone in your life share thoughts and beliefs that helped your faith grow and strengthen? Have you been able to share those changes with others who might be struggling with their faith?
Throughout the book, Carly’s faith never wavers, even when help doesn’t come. Have you had times when you still relied on God, even though His help seemed delayed?
In the end, it’s Carly’s resolute faith that pushes Dee firmly back toward God. How has the faith of the children in your life affected your beliefs?
Jenna’s mental breakdown came about because she couldn’t move beyond past events. Have there been times in your life when past events kept you from moving on in life? What steps did you take to overcome this?
What do you think the green dress represents for Dee? Why is giving it to Maggie an important step in her relationship with Tyler?
The Taking of Carly Bradford is a story of healing and restoration. Have you seen God act in your life, or the lives of your friends and family, to bring healing from a great loss? Have you witnessed His work, even when human faith falters?
Is there anything in Dee’s story that can inspire some part of your own life?
ISBN: 978-1-4268-3317-5
THE TAKING OF CARLY BRADFORD
Copyright © 2009 by Ramona Richards
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Steeple Hill Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Steeple Hill Books.
® and TM are trademarks of Steeple Hill Books, used under license. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
www.SteepleHill.com
The Taking of Carly Bradford Page 17
